Happy Accidents
by Alley Cat Sunflower
Summary: As soon as Chizuru opened her mouth, Heisuke whirled around suddenly with an air of throwing caution to the winds, and she stumbled backwards out of shock. "Chizuru," he began, a strange and inscrutable light in his eyes. "You love me, right?" / In which a misunderstanding leads to a marriage… after a few persistent doubts are finally laid to rest. Fluffy. I do not own Hakuōki!


It all started when the shopkeeper said goodbye.

"You and your wife take care, now," remarked the grocer, winking, and Chizuru blushed at his mistake. She and Heisuke may have lived under the same roof for a season or so, and they even shared a room (if not a bed), but… they hadn't even discussed it yet! "It's nice to see young love in times as turbulent as these."

Chizuru didn't dare look at Heisuke's face, but she could see him nod and brave a smile in her peripheral vision as he steered her away with light fingers on the small of her back—yet he did not speak. In fact, he maintained an almost brooding silence as they continued their walk back to the house, and he seemed to have developed an extreme aversion to so much as glancing in Chizuru's direction… so, as usual, she took to worrying.

Was the idea so unpleasant…? The most sensible explanation was because Heisuke didn't want to or otherwise wasn't ready to take that step. Then again, perhaps he'd made the same resolution as herself: ever since they'd settled down, Chizuru had told herself to live day by day, cherishing the present instead of wondering about what could be. That unfortunately included suppressing thoughts of the good possibilities as well as the bad.

Without Heisuke's hand to hold as usual, Chizuru fidgeted with her fingers anxiously all the way home. Of course, she'd dreamed of her wedding since she'd been a little girl, and he was as handsome and sweet a groom as she ever could have hoped for; but if _he_ didn't want to marry _her_ , then…

By the time they finally arrived at the house, she'd made up her mind to ask what was wrong before she drove herself mad with internal speculation—but as soon as she opened her mouth, Heisuke whirled around suddenly with an air of throwing caution to the winds, and she stumbled backwards out of shock. "Chizuru," he began, a strange and inscrutable light in his eyes. "You love me, right?"

Chizuru blinked, taken aback, and it was all she could do to find a response. "I… what?" she managed, tilting her head slightly and frowning in confusion. They made a point of telling one another they loved each other every day, as often as it crossed their minds. The house itself had absorbed their love like sunlight over all the days they'd spent within its walls. How could he ask her that? Didn't he trust her by now?

Heisuke swallowed dryly. "L-love me," he repeated, his voice miserable and very faint. It was clear enough that for whatever reason, he was having second thoughts about asking to begin with.

"Of course I love you!" exclaimed Chizuru reassuringly, bolder than usual as if to make up for his uncharacteristic timidity. "You know I do!" she added, but Heisuke only shook his head in apparent agitation and set down their basket of groceries gingerly. After he straightened up, he hesitated for a long moment before taking her awkwardly by both shoulders, his touch somewhat more tremulous than usual. Was something wrong?

"I—I _know_ ," Heisuke told her, a peculiar note of impatience in his voice. But hadn't she just answered the question he'd asked? Why was he annoyed with her? Had she offended him somehow…? "I mean, do you… maybe…" he tried again, then shook his head and closed his eyes, scowling fiercely.

Once he'd held the expression for longer than Chizuru would have thought possible, she opened her mouth once more to ask what was going on—but again did not have a chance to say anything. Heisuke's eyes flew open before she could speak and locked with hers: "Chizuru," he asked, his voice a sigh full of more emotions than she could count. "Will you marry me?"

Chizuru's heart almost stopped, and her eyes widened. _What_? He spoke the words so insistently that they almost sounded like a demand, but there was such an undercurrent of desperation in his tone that she knew he was just terrified she would say no.

But he rushed on nervously before Chizuru could do more than inhale in preparation to say _YES_ : "I mean… I've kinda been thinking about asking for a long time," managed Heisuke, running a hand through his hair so that it stuck up in the back. "The shopkeeper just… reminded me. A-and besides," he added, "we've lived together for a whole season, and nothing… _bad_ … has happened yet, so…"

As he trailed off, Chizuru felt her eyes flash in the beginnings of anger: accepting his proposal would have to wait till after the usual lecture. When would he _learn_? Shutting her mouth with a click, she drew herself up as tall as she could; Heisuke had grown a few inches over the years since they'd first met, so this had somewhat less of an effect than she would have liked, but any reduction in the height difference was still an advantage.

Taking a deep breath, Chizuru clasped both his hands somewhat more roughly than usual and looked deep into his eyes, pushing past the surprise to the glimmer of fear. "Don't tell me you've just been waiting around to die the whole time we've been living together," she snapped, though she was too anxious to be truly angry. "I thought we agreed—no more of this! You're alive, and you're here, with me, right now! That's all that matters!"

Heisuke only stared at Chizuru for a moment longer… and then, his expression softened. "You're right," he mumbled, his voice barely above a breath, and glanced sharply away. "I just… I guess I didn't want to tie you down if I was just gonna check out right after we got married." He gave a weak attempt at a laugh, but his smile seemed more like a self-conscious grimace. "S-sorr—"

Chizuru stood on her tiptoes to pull Heisuke down, and the rest of the apology was muffled as their mouths met: his eyes widened in shock a moment before they fluttered shut, and he melted into the kiss. It was brief and clumsy, but at least the aftermath quieted him down long enough for Chizuru to get a word in edgewise: "I don't want to hear it," she murmured, her arms around his neck. "I'm going to be your wife, and that'll be that. All right?"

There was a brief silence, and Chizuru could feel Heisuke's body tense against hers—as much in excitement as nervousness, she thought. "W-wait," he told her, wide-eyed, and he brushed as tray lock of hair out of her face. "You're… going to be my wife? You _want_ to get married?"

"Of _course_ I want to marry you, Heisuke!" exclaimed Chizuru, giggling at his incredulous expression in spite of her exasperation. "However long our future is, and whatever it holds, we'll face it together, so I know everything will be all right." She caressed his cheek in a gesture of reassurance. "So try not to worry so much, okay?"

"Worry?" asked Heisuke, holding her close enough for him to rest his chin on Chizuru's head, and gave a breathy laugh of relief. "How can I be _worried_ at a time like this? As long as you're with me, I'll never be worried again!" He paused, moving her slightly back to gaze down into her eyes. "The wedding will probably be just the two of us, but that's really all we need—right?"

"Right," agreed Chizuru breathlessly, and Heisuke swept her into another, passionate kiss. This one was longer and lazier, yet giddy too, tingling with an almost childish anticipation. They may have had all the time in the world to step through this newly opened door, but the impulse to dash through it hand in hand and never look back was all-consuming.

"Sake," muttered Heisuke as soon as they broke apart again, and the word on his lips—still so close to hers—seemed as intoxicating as the thing itself. "We need to go back into town and get some sake. The good stuff, like the kind they have at real weddings!" he added, his eyes shining bright as sunlight, and his cheeks were already flushed. "Let's get married _tonight_!"

Chizuru beamed at him, and didn't realize her eyes had welled up with jubilant tears until they overflowed. She found herself unable to say anything, but only because words were no longer enough to convey her happiness… but Heisuke seemed to understand, because as he brushed her tears away, she realized he was crying too—though he didn't seem to notice.

"L-let's go," remarked Chizuru, sniffling, once she found her voice. "The market will close soon, and I—I think we have someone we should thank." After all, if the shopkeeper had not mistaken them for a married couple, they might not have agreed to become one tonight. She could tell Heisuke was thinking the same thing, as his grin widened—if such a thing were possible—and he took her hand, playing with her fingers.

It was a long time before he spoke, as though he too could not find the right words to express himself. "I love you," he told her, as earnestly as if he'd never said those words before… and despite his insistence that he would never be worried again, there was still some concern in his voice. "You know that, right?"

Chizuru stared at him for a moment, then laughed. Of all the questions to ask! Even _she_ couldn't possibly fail to recognize his feelings after a marriage proposal. But there was a time and a place for teasing, and this wasn't it: "Of course I know," she replied, plucking up their basket in one hand, and pulled him back towards the marketplace with the other. "I love you too, Heisuke," she added, as he tucked his gentle hand around her waist. "Always."

* * *

 _Oof, it's good to write some proper fluff again after so much drama in my other stories!  
_


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